Interracial Couple travelling in Africa

[Houdini]

I'm wondering if any other posters have been in a similar situation and was wanting to get their thoughts and advice.

I am white Australian and my boyfriend is of Sri Lankan decent. We are heading over to Namibia and South Africa in 2 weeks time for a holiday. We have both travelled to South Africa before (but not together). In my previous trip in 2010, it was my experience that the south africans did not seem to date outside their own ethnic groups/nationalities/racial groups. (presumably a result of the apartheid past)

I did not have a single bad experience on my last trip to Africa (I visited South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe). However this time around I am wondering what to expect when walking down the street with a partner with a different coloured skin. Will it matter? Should we be careful with any outward display of affection? Or will it simply not matter at all?

I found the below snippet on a travel website for Namibia. It made me wonder that if people had to live with such laws in the past, would my partner and I raise eyebrows travelling there now?

http://www.namibian.org/travel/namibia/history.htm

In 1948 the Afrikaner led National Party gained power in South Africa. Namibia exchanged one colonial experience for another. South Africa saw Namibia as, potentially, a fifth province for their country. The existing system of segregation that was widespread in colonial Africa was intensified through the policy of apartheid. One example of the way in which divisions between communities were created was the increasingly harsh `Immorality Act", which termed it `immoral' and illegal for white people to have sex with people defined as having a different skin colour. Strangely it was not considered illegal to lie in the same bed, but only to be caught having sexual intercourse. One wonders how the police went about enforcing this curious law.

 

[PJ Marshal]

i guess if you guys dont have sex over there you will be ok or if you decided to just don't tell anyone

 

[Moffo]

I wouldn't venture too far off the beaten track

I've seen a bit of it Tokyo...where old Japanese dudes were abusing this girl for going out with a white guy

Honestly, you should be fine, but avoid direct eye contact as much as possible

 

[Bulldog Force]

Depends on where abouts in SA you're going. Mind the hand holding, kissing in public places etc...

 

[Houdini]

Depends on where abouts in SA you're going. Mind the hand holding, kissing in public places etc...

We won't be spending much time in SA, we are actually just stopping at one of the luxury lodges in Sabi Sands Game Reserve at the end of our trip and 1 night at Jo'burg airport. Its more while on Safari in Namibia as well as spending some free time in Windhoek and Swakopmund.

I'm sure it will be fine, but it is on my mind a little.

 

[fightingirish69]

i've heard the caprivi strip is fantastic

 

[counterpuncher]

Did the whole S.A to Kenya thing not too long back, real mixed group. Had one mixed couple, a Pom and his Thai heritage missus and they didn't seem too troubled by anything (apart from the fact she was smoking hot and subject to every perv and their marriage proposal in southern Africa).

An African American couple copped a heap of snide comments though. Seemed to be tension between what the locals saw as them rising too far above their background or something, they were hit on for cash and "presents" triple what anybody else was. :?

 

[mave]

I wonder how many peoples thinking about travelling to Aus would question if it will be safe/acceptable to travel here with someone of a different skin colour to their own.

 

[Houdini]

I wonder how many peoples thinking about travelling to Aus would question if it will be safe/acceptable to travel here with someone of a different skin colour to their own.

Pretty different travelling in Aus than travelling in South Africa and Namibia though. We never had racial segregation enforced upon us in our past like they did.

For the record, we have never ever had any issue at all in Australia. We are damn lucky in this country

 

[PaddyBoy]

Pretty different travelling in Aus than travelling in South Africa and Namibia though. We never had racial segregation enforced upon us in our past like they did.

For the record, we have never ever had any issue at all in Australia. We are damn lucky in this country

I wouldn't be so sure of that. There were a lot of people I went to uni with who were a bit iffy about the Cronulla riots (Arabs mainly), and the Indian students were pretty worried after those stabbings, etc. I'd say that Chinese kid who got beaten up and blogged about it will make Chinese nationals a bit wary.

Not saying they were completely turned off (obviously) but they definitely did full checks to make sure.

 

[Paullyboy]

There is/was definitely a negative perception from India a couple of years back, though I think that was honestly as much to do with the negative image of the Australian cricket public disrespecting the Indian team as it was in relation to the stabbings.

As for the original question, I've only been to south Africa but I don't imagine it being a big issue - they might not be as sociable to you in a pub or something (they really do still dislike non-whites in the upper to middle classes), but I don't think it will be dangerous or anything.

 

[sensesmaybenumbed]

Yeah, there was a run of bad publicity in India a couple of years back, particularly due to incidents in Melbourne. The truth of it was there were a couple of really nasty attacks including one on a Doctor (Mukersh Haikerwal, who had lived in Melbourne for over 20 years) fracturing his skull, and a murder.

Looking at it objectively though, many of the attacks and robberies occurred when Indian students were in areas that weren't the safest to be wandering around in late at night, especially with valuable electronics such as iphones and laptops etc. The worst thing that contributed to it was the travel companies that organised the students visas, travel and studies - they gave these students the impression that everywhere you walk in Australia is safe and secure all the time. So when these poor people were wandering about in the middle of the night in Sunshine or St Albans , they were getting bashed and robbed not because they were Indian, but because they were easy targets carrying valuable items.
Plenty of other people were assaulted and robbed in that period of time, but that's not really of interest to a sensationalist media.

I've never been to Africa, and have no idea what awaits but I hope you both have a nice trip. As for Japan, It's a very mono-cultural country with a history of isolationism up until the mid 1800's, so there are still a few amusing minority groups that could only be thought of as 'yellow supremacists'. I saw them campaigning outside some Government buildings in Tokyo in 2005 during elections. They became quite irate when I started taking pictures....:lol: